This invention is directed to an electrical connector for sequentially connecting plural contacts provided along the respective mating surfaces of a pair of planar electronic devices, such as a mother board and a daughter board.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,678,252 to Moore represents an early attempt at providing a two-stage connection between a pair of planar devices. The connector thereof includes an angled insulator having first and second legs which form a pie-shaped cavity at their meeting point. The cavity extends for a distance necessary to receive one edge of one the planar devices. The cavity is such that the planar device can be moved through an arc commencing with a position parallel to the first leg. Flexible spring metal contacts form a portion of the first leg so that electrical contact portions of the planar device make contact with the resilient spring metal contacts when the planar device is in the position parallel to the first leg. The second leg forms an alignment surface for abutting the surface of the planar device opposite the electrical contacts, and the first leg forms a fulcrum about which the planar device is pivoted. The planar device is pivoted to a position whereby such device is parallel to the other planar device, i.e., mother board. Here the pivoted device comes to rest on a second electrical connector, where such connector includes resilient spring metal contacts. In this position, the respective contacts, electrically interconnect the two, parallelly aligned, planar electronic devices.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,057,311 to Evans teaches an electrical connector for electrically interconnecting a pair of spaced apart, planar electronic devices, such as printed circuit boards, by the use of an intermediate housing body containing a flexible film having electrical circuitry thereon, which film is typically supported by an elastomeric body. Such flexible film is sold commercially under the trademark, AMPLIFLEX, owned by The Whitaker Corporation, Wilmington, DE. As disclosed by Evans, the elastomeric bodies and the flexible circuits can be manufactured in accordance with the teachings of U.S. Pat. No. 3,985,413 which teaches the use of a material such as silicone rubber for the body members and a suitable polyamide film for the flexible circuit. The conductors on the flexible circuit are preferably produced by etching and are advantageously extremely narrow to allow for high density connections.
The present invention, by the preferred use of an AMPLIFLEX type interconnection system, and a unique structural design, offers many features and benefits, such as a user friendly system, modular versatility, high density, excellent signal integrity, low insertion forces, contact sequencing, high cycle life, low profile, and redundant contact points. Such features and benefits will become more apparent in the description which follows, particularly when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.